State Ripe For New Department Experts: Timing Right For Separate Agency For The Elderly

February 10, 1991|By DIANE LADE and JENNI BERGAL, Staff Writers

The reason Florida might end up with a Department of Elderly Affairs may be a matter of timing.

The state`s large elderly population, its oversized and cumbersome social service system and its new governor who wants to woo seniors make it ripe for a separate department for the aging, experts say.

``What happens with a department on aging often is a question of the kind of focus a governor wants,`` said Robert H. Binstock, a professor of aging at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Nationwide, 28 states run independent departments, commissions or offices on aging. They range from California -- the state with the largest elderly population of 4.6 million people -- to Nebraska, where there are fewer seniors than in Broward County.

Proponents say separate aging units are a good deal for the elderly in any state, no matter how many seniors live there.

Chris Arnold, director of the California Department of Aging, said separating aging services from social services in her state helped eliminate duplication and allowed for better recordkeeping.

Arnold said the push for a separate department came in 1981 after California`s governor responded to lobbying from the elderly.

``Like us, Florida has a large voting constituency of seniors who want services but don`t want to be viewed as welfare recipients,`` Arnold said.

Binstock predicted that within the next 20 years, all states may opt for independent agencies on aging as the numbers of seniors continue to increase.

Yet not everyone who has had experience with such departments thinks that separate means superior.

Patricia McGinnis, executive director of the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, said her state`s aging department has never cut its political apron strings to the Governor`s Office.

``We have definite problems in California with our department of aging,`` McGinnis said. ``The head is a political appointee. The tenor and direction depends on who`s appointed.``

Illinois advocates have similar complaints about their state Department on Aging.

``They are a small and vulnerable department, and they don`t have any clout,`` said Wendy Meltzer, staff attorney for the Illinois Citizens for Better Care, a nursing home patient advocacy group.

In Virginia, seniors are better represented and their services better coordinated under a separate department, said Bill Peterson, a planner with the Department for the Aging. But Peterson said that infighting still exists.

HOW THEY OPERATE

These states, like most, distribute federal funds to private, non-profit Area Agencies on Aging to run programs such as senior centers, nutrition services and transportation. Their budgets include those federal dollars.

CALIFORNIA

-- Budget: $137 million. -- Staff: 160

-- Functions: Contracts with outside agencies directly for programs that include Alzheimer`s day care and health insurance counseling. Houses the long- term care ombudsman council, which investigates complaints against nursing homes.

ILLINOIS

-- Budget: $151 million. -- Staff: 140

-- Functions: Contracts with outside agencies for most services, including adult protection and home care. Conducts training. Operates a small district office in Chicago. Houses state long-term care ombudsman council.

TEXAS

-- Budget: $50 million -- Staff: 50

-- Function: Houses the state long-term care ombudsman council.

VIRGINIA

-- Budget: $23 million. -- Staff: 27

-- Function: Houses the state long-term ombudsman council.

FLORIDA

-- Budget: $214 million. -- Staff: 1,944

-- Functions: Runs 11 district offices. Contracts with outside agencies for home care programs. Operates the adult abuse investigations unit. Runs the Medicaid program for seniors. Operates under state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services.

WHAT`S AT STAKE

A number of state and private agencies have a stake in whether a Department of Elderly Affairs is created and how it will run. Here are a few:

--Florida Department of Health & Rehabilitative Services` Aging and Adult Services Program: $214 million budget. Programs range from investigating elderly abuse to overseeing and monitoring the distribution of millions of federal dollars for programs for the aging. A large chunk of this program would be eliminated if an elderly affairs department is created under some proposals.

--Area Agencies on Aging: $89 million budget from state and federal funds, most of which are used to contract for programs. Located in 11 districts around the state, these private non-profit groups run senior centers, nutrition programs and other services. Supports creating an elderly affairs department because it could mean more money and authority for these agencies.

--Florida Pepper Commission on Aging: $400,000 budget. This 18-member volunteer commission advises legislators on aging issues and develops policy. Created as an independent voice separate from HRS and the Legislature but may be eliminated or rolled into the new elderly affairs department.

--Long-term Care Ombudsman Council: $512,000 budget. With headquarters in Tallahassee, this federally mandated watchdog group operates in 11 districts around the state and investigates complaints against nursing homes and boarding homes. Lost much of its independence and effectiveness in recent years when it was housed in HRS. Now, it operates out of the Pepper Commission. Members are cautious about an elderly affairs department and are concerned that long-term care residents not be overlooked in the new structure.